


A Taste of Romance

by PaintedVanilla



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Cheesy, Cooking, Falling In Love, Firefighters, First Meetings, Gen, Getting Together, Hallmark Movie Fic Challenge, Light Angst, M/M, Minor Character Death, Play Fighting, Pranks and Practical Jokes, Protectiveness, Restaurants, Single Parents, Slow Burn, Widowed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-01 22:14:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,234
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13304415
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PaintedVanilla/pseuds/PaintedVanilla
Summary: i ripped this plot from a hallmark movie this is basically plagiarism





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i ripped this plot from a hallmark movie this is basically plagiarism

Thomas Jefferson knocks on the window, and then opens the passenger door to his truck and leans against it; Patsy barley looks up from her book. “Sweetheart,” he says, “let’s head inside.”

“Can’t I read?” Patsy asks, and Thomas shakes his head.

“Safety tip number one: don’t leave kids in hot cars.” he tells her; she pouts and climbs out of the passenger seat and he shuts the door behind her. He grabs her gently by her sleeve and pulls her back towards him, whistling lowly, and holds up a bright red, plastic fireman helmet, “Safety tip number two.” he says, holding it out to her.

Patsy looks up at him, “You were serious about that?”

“Of course.” Thomas says, smiling and placing the hat on her head.

She adjusts it, then says, “Now I know exactly what to write for my essay when school starts. How I spent my summer vacation?” she points to the hat, “looking like a total dork. By Patsy Jefferson.”

“Dorks are great.” Thomas says lovingly, “dorks don’t get head injuries.”

“If I had a head injury right now, maybe I’d forget about how lame I look.” Patsy tells him.

Thomas rolls his eyes and laughs sarcastically and nudges her on the shoulder, so she turns and makes her way to the door. She walks faster than him and beats him there, so he steps up onto the sidewalk at the same time another man walking from his car does, carrying a ton of bags. He starts trying to unlock the door and is clearly struggling, so Thomas stops.

“Do you need help?” he asks, and the man starts.

“Oh, no.” he says when he recovers, still trying to unlock the door, “you look like you’ve got your hands full, anyways.” he says, vaguely gesturing the single bag Thomas is holding. 

“Fair enough.” Thomas says, and the man finally gets the door unlocked and disappears inside.

The lights in the dining area are off, the chairs still stacked on the table, but the kitchen is lit up and the radio is going with the news on. He pushes open the door to find his sous chef, Dolley Payne, making bread.

“Good morning, Doll.” he says, setting the bag down.

“Good morning, James.” she returns, looking up from the dough and smiling.

“Looks like they’re finally starting work on the place next door.” James tells her, walking around behind her to set down another bag in a different area, “I saw a painter out front just now.”

“Are you ready for a bit of competition?” Dolley asks playfully, and James rolls his eyes.

“Doll, come on.” he says, taking his jacket off and hanging it up near the back door, “it’s called The Five Alarm Grill. It doesn’t exactly sound refined.”

Next door, Thomas and Lafayette set down their bags while Patsy lingers by the door. Lafayette glances around at the state of the building; it’s a mess. It’s dusty, with discarded furniture and chunks of wood left lying around, cobwebs hanging from the ceiling. “Thomas?” he asks, and Thomas hums, “Why did we think a bunch of firefighters could open up a restaurant?”

Patsy and Lafayette both look at him waiting eagerly for his answer. Thomas clears his throat, “Because,” he drags the word out, “we’re used to cooking for large groups of people. And we know every firefighter, cop and paramedic in this town, and they love to eat.”

Lafayette looks anxiously back at the mess, then says, “Okay.”

The door opens again, and Washington walks inside, “we came to help.” he says, Hercules following him inside.

Thomas turns around and raises his eyebrows, “Hey, chief.” he says, “I thought we agreed no restaurant work while you were on duty?”

“Well,” Washington says, “I poured half my retirement savings into this place. I’m here to supervise my investment.” then he reaches out and shakes Patsy’s hand, smiling, “good to see you again, little Miss Martha.”

“It’s Patsy.” she and her dad correct at the same time, and he raises his eyebrows and nods, standing back up.

“And I’m off duty.” Hercules says, “so let’s clean this place up.”

Back next door, James and Dolley are pressing the dough Dolley had made into crust pans when a loud burst of music startles both of them, particularly James. He stands up straight and turns around, towards the wall it’s coming from, “What the hell?” he asks, his eyebrows knitted together, and Dolley glances at him.

“The music?” she asks, and James looks back at her, somewhat annoyed.

“What else?” he snaps, and Dolley rolls her eyes and goes back to molding the crust.

“James, come on,” Dolley says gently, “it’s just music.”

“Seriously?” James asks, “it shouldn’t be loud enough for us to hear it clearly from inside our kitchen.”

“We can’t hear it  _ clearly _ .” Dolley points out.

…

James finishes pouring a glass of wine for their server, Adrienne, and then sets the bottle down, “First you want to try the beef,” he says seriously, “and  _ then _ you taste the wine. See, they pair together perfectly, because - ”

James cuts himself off another song starts playing next door, and he glares angrily at the wall, “This is ridiculous.” he snaps, just as Adrienne is about to take a bite of the stew he has set down in front of her; she glances at him and he rubs his face, “I’m so sorry, Adri. Can you just - can you just give me one minute?” he asks, standing up and walking towards the kitchen.

He leaves through the back and comes out into the alleyway, next to the dumpster, and walks over to the back door of the place next door. The window is covered with paper, so he takes a deep breath and knocks as loud as he can. It takes a moment, but eventually the same man he saw earlier opens the door, wiping his hands with a towel.

His face lights up when he sees him, “Oh, hey!” he says happily, opening the door wider and stepping back, wordlessly inviting James in.

He steps up and stands in the doorway, unfortunately realizing the other man is much taller than him, “Hey.” he says, trying and failing to keep the bitterness out of his voice, “I’m sorry, uh, aren’t you the painter I saw earlier?”

“No.” Thomas says, “I’m not the painted. But I was painting; we all were.” he finishes drying one hand and extends it, “I’m Thomas Jefferson. Former firefighter, part restaurant owner, part cook.”

James tries to keep the bewilderment out of his expression and, again, fails, “Ah.” he says, not reaching out to take his hand, “James Madison. Chef Madison.”

“Well, okay, Chef Madison.” Thomas says, retracting his hand and walking back into the kitchen, “what can I do for you?”

“You can turn down the music.” James says stiffly, “I can’t have my customers subjected to this screeching.”

Thomas raises his eyebrows, “Well, it’s actually not that bad.” he says, opening the oven and grabbing a pizza paddle, “this song was actually top of the charts in 1986, so some people must like it.” he reaches into the oven and slides the pizza out with the paddle, setting it down on a cooling rack on the counter.

James sighs and closes his eyes, trying to keep himself calm, “Look,” he says, opening his eyes again, “I run a very elegant French restaurant, and this kind of noise does not exactly fit in with the atmosphere I’m trying to set.”

Thomas closes the oven and leans against the counter, an amused look on his face; James continues, “I know the power tools are a temporary thing, so that I won’t make a big fuss over - ”

“You sure? You’re on such a roll.” Thomas says, smiling.

James purses his lips, “Clearly we are going to be appealing to two vastly different clienteles, so I’m just hoping that we can be neighborly and respectful of each other and our businesses.”

“So you  _ actually  _ want to be neighborly and respectful?” Thomas asks.

“Absolutely.” James says tightly.

“Well, you’re doing an incredible job establishing the tone.” Thomas says, standing up straight and walking back closer to him.

“Excuse me?” James asks.

“Don’t you mean  _ pardon moi?”  _ Thomas asks sarcastically.

James huffs, “I can see where it might be a little confusing - you might think that  _ pardon moi  _ means ‘pardon me’ as in excuse me, but actually  _ pardon moi  _ means forgive me, so no I  _ don’t.  _ Turn down the music, please.” he says sharply, then turns and leaves out the open door.

Thomas smiles at him as he leaves, and shuts the door loudly after he’s gone.

…

“How did it go?” Dolley asks when James comes back inside.

“He’s an overgrown child.” James snaps, pumping soap onto his hand and turning the tap on.

Dolley glances at him, “Who?”

“The owner.” James says, washing his hands aggressively, “or, co-owner. Or owner and chef. The cook. I don’t know.” he turns the tap off and Dolley hands him a towel, which he takes quickly, “he was painting before. I don’t know, I guess he  _ does it all!” _

He grabs a knife and joins Dolley in cutting up celery, “He says that  _ I’m  _ not neighborly. That’s - it’s hilarious. Can’t you tell by how hard I’m laughing.”

Dolley smiles, “Seems like someone made an impression.”

James laughs, and Dolley presses him, “Is he cute?”

James stops cutting celery and looks at her, incredulously, and she sets her knife down and smiles, “He is, isn’t he.”

“Dolley - you.” James stammers, going back to cutting celery and not looking at her, “you’ve got a one track mind.”

…

Thomas returns home late that night, Patsy right behind him as they come into their house. 

“Dad?” Patsy asks, “how am I supposed to get this paint out of my hair?”

“Mix some turpentine with some old baby shampoo.” Thomas tells her, “I’m pretty sure I have some in the garage.” he adds as he sits down on the couch, sinking down low and closing his eyes. She sits next to him on the arm of the couch.

“Smart.” Patsy says “as mom would say, spoken like a true man.”

Thomas is quiet for a moment, “You’re right, that is what mom would say.” he answers finally, and Patsy goes quiet, so Thomas opens her eyes to see her staring down at him, “you know she’s always watching over you.” he adds, and she nods.

“I know.” she says, smiling at him, “but I still really miss her.”

Thomas tries not to wince, “I do, too.” he says quietly, and Patsy leans down and places a kiss on her forehead, then gets up off the arm of the couch and leaves him by himself in the living room.

…

When James gets home to his apartment his apartment he’s immediately greeted by his cat, and he smiles happily, “Hi, Peaches.” he says, setting his bag down and reaching down to pick her up; he pets her for a moment and she purrs, then he says, “You think I’m neighborly, right?”


	2. Chapter 2

James spends the next few weeks furiously busy at work and ignoring every comment both Dolley and Adrienne throw at him about a certain business owner. 

“Do you have the cream?” James asks distractedly, picking a crêpe up out of the pan and placing it on a plate.

“Yes.” Dolley says, furiously stirring it, “the cream and my arm are just about done.” 

Patsy passes the front of the restaurant carrying a box and pauses, staring in through the windows at the delicate atmosphere. She watches Adrienne serve the finished crêpe dish and smiles, glancing up at the sign above the door:  _ Chez Varenne.  _ Thomas catches up to her, carrying his own box, “What are you doing?” he asks, and Patsy looks up at him.

“I just saw something covered in chocolate and whipped cream go by,” Patsy says, “can we get some dessert?”

“Oh, honey.” Thomas says, “we’re not dressed to go in there.”

“But dad,” Patsy tries to protest.

“Come on,” Thomas says, nodding back towards their restaurant, “let’s just finish up. I’ll buy you an ice cream.”

Patsy pouts and follows him reluctantly back into their own building. 

…

As James cleans up in the kitchen he has the news on the radio turned all the way up for he can hear it over the clanking of dishes and the rusting of trash bags. 

“And that’s your channel seventeen weekend weather forecast,” the cheerey newscaster voice says, “now George William Frederick has the place to dine this weekend in the central valley.”

James pauses and abandons what he’s doing straying closer to the radio to listen. “Thank you, Angelica.” George says, his voice obnoxiously pompous, but James can’t help but listen to every word. He listens to his rave review of Little Italy and hovers over the radio, frowning intensely and thinking to himself how incredible it would be to hear the name of his own restaurant uttered on air. He grabs a trash bag and makes his way outside to the dumpster.

Just as he’s closing the lid of the dumpster it slams, which startles Patsy as she comes around the corner and she drops the smaller bag of trash she’s holding. Both she and James jump, Patsy squealing and James placing a hand over his heart. 

“I’m s - I’m sorry.” James stutters, reaching down to pick up her bag, “I didn’t mean to scare you.”

He picks up her book, as well, which she’d been holding but had also dropped, “I’m sorry,” he says again, handing the book to her but not the trash,  _ “Les  _ _ Misérables -  _ that’s - that’s a great book - wonderful book.”

Patsy looks up at him, “Do you speak French?”

James nods, opening the lid of the dumpster again and throwing away her trash, “Yes.” he says, “I - uh -  _ oui, je parle _ \- I speak - uh, I lived in France while I was studying, uh…” he trails off, slightly choked up, and Patsy looks down at the book.

“My parents were both really into French stuff.” she says, “this was my mom’s book. We were reading it together.”

“Yeah?” James says.

Patsy nods, “We even planned a family vacation to Paris.”

“Ah, you were, you were planning,” James says, “what happened?”

Patsy looks up at him and James immediately realizes his mistake and wants to disappear into the ground, “My mom had cancer.” Patsy says, confirming his fears, and he winces, “when she got better we were all going to go to Paris together.” she looks back down at her book, choked up now, “but she never did.”

James looks back at the back door to the restaurant and then down at her door, “I’m sorry.” he says quickly, “I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean - ”

“It’s fine.” Patsy says, looking back up at him, “I studied French last year in school.”

“Did you?” James asks, desperate for a subject change or a chance to escape.  _ “Très bien.  _ _ Tu peux parler français avec moi.” _

Patsy clears her throat, clearly thrown off by this, “Um, okay.” she pauses, “You said, something like… that’s good.” James nods, “And that I can talk in French?”

“Yeah,” James says, and Patsy smiles, “you ever want to, uh, speak French just, uh, you know I’m the chef next door. At the restaurant. Come on over. We can talk. In French.”

“Thanks.” Patsy says, “I saw someone order this chocolate thing with whipped cream on it. It looked amazing.”

James thinks for a second, “Yes.”

“Did you make that?” Patsy asks.

“I did.” James tells her. “Chocolate  crêpes. Just come on over, I can make them for you anytime.”

“Thank you.” Patsy says again.

“You’re welcome.” he says, “I’m James, by the way.”

“I’m Patsy.” she tells him, reaching her hand out. James takes it and shakes it.

“Nice to meet you.” he says.

Patsy retracts her hand, and says, “Uh,  _ au revoir _ , James.”

_ “Au revoir _ , Patsy.” James says awkwardly, and she smiles at him and turns to make her way back inside. As soon as she’s gone James leaves so she doesn’t come back and locks the back door.

…

Thomas shuts the front door of the restaurant and locks it, turning around to look at his daughter, “Well, we’re finished sweetheart.” he says, “tomorrow is opening day.” he pats her on the shoulder, “so c’mon, we’ve gotta celebrate.”

“Can we go next door and get that chocolate crêpe thing?” Patsy asks eagerly.

“Really?” Thomas asks, “that’s what you want to do?” he pauses, “because I was thinking pizza and a movie.”

“Dad.” Patsy says, “how much do you think we’re going to go  _ out  _ to eat when you’re running your own restaurant? This could be our  _ last _ chance.”

Thomas sighs, “You're a little dramatic, but you’ve made your point.” he tells her, and she smiles and grabs his arm walking him towards the restaurant.  _ “Think I need a tuxedo for this fancy French place?” _ Thomas asks with a French accent, and Patsy looks up at him seriously.

“If you do that in there, I’ll tell everyone you kidnapped me.” she deadpans.

Thomas raises his eyebrows, “Understood.”

When the walk inside the hostess greets them, “Bonjour, welcome to  _ Chez Varenne.  _ Have you been here before?” she asks, picking up two menus.

“Nope,” Patsy says, “but chef James said he’d make chocolate  crêpes for me.” she declares, and Thomas frowns.

“Okay,” the hostess says, leading them to a table, “you know chef Madison?”

“Yes.” Patsy says.

“Do you?” Thomas asks, coming up behind her as she sits down in her chair and pushing it in for her.

“Okay.” the hostess says, “well, take a moment to look at the menu, and I will let chef Madison - uh, James, know that you’re here.”

“Oh, hey, that’s not, uh - you don’t have to do that.” Thomas tries to say, but the hostess has already gone.

The hostess steps into the kitchen where James and Dolley are standing side by side working on something, “Chef Madison?”

“Yes.” James says absently.

“Uh, this little girl at table four says she knows you?” the hostess asks, and James looks up from what he’s doing with a very annoyed expression on his face.

Dolley glances at him, “You know a little girl?”

He rolls his eyes and follows the hostess back out into the restaurant, and points him in the right direction. He walks up to the table and tries to smile, “Hi, Patsy.” he says, his voice a bit strained, then he looks across from her and sees Thomas and his smile becomes very tight, “oh!” he says, looking back at Patsy, “this… is… your… father?” he asks, and Patsy nods, smiling.

“Yeah!” Patsy says.

“Oh!” James says looking back at Thomas.

“This is James.” Patsy says, pointing to him, and Thomas nods.

Thomas and James stare at each other, until James looks away, “How nice.”

“Darling, you know what, I’m sure Chef Madison is  _ very  _ busy,” Thomas says, “so why don’t you just order.”

“Okay.” Patsy says.

“What can I tell you about the menu.” James says a bit forecully.

“Um,” Patsy says, “what is a… do fo… a coat do - ”

“ Côté veau au fromage.” James mutters.

“Right, okay,” Patsy says, “what is côté veau au fromage?”

“Excellent pronunciation.” James compliments her, “Côté veau au fromage is veal cooked with ham and cheese and - ”

“Veal?” Patsy asks, and James nods, “oh, no, I can’t eat veal, that’s baby cow and they lock them up.” she says seriously, looking at her dad, who smiles at her.

“You know what, Patsy, I absolutely felt the same way when I was your age, but you honestly don’t know what you’re missing, it’s very, very delicious.” he tells her, and Thomas rolls his eyes once his daughter isn’t looking, “but I respect your views.” James adds, glancing very annoyedly at Thomas, “What else looks good?”

“What is, uh,” Patsy squints at the menu, “beef copochio?”

“Beef carpaccio is a raw beef cooked very lightly in lemon juice - ” James starts to say, but upon his daughters disgusted expression Thomas interjects.

“Darling, why don’t you just have the roasted chicken, that’s simple enough.” he says, then pauses, “actually how about this, she will have the beef  bourguignon - which is basically just beef stew with a better publicist,” he adds when his daughter looks distressed, “and I will have the duck confit.”

“It’s  _ confit.”  _ James says, with French pronunciation, unable to help himself, and Thomas stares straight ahead and tries to keep a straight face, “an excellent choice.” James adds.

_ “Merci!” _ Patsy says happily, and James nods.

_ “De rien.” _ he returns, and disappears into the kitchen.

“He’s really nice.” Patsy says happily.

“Isn’t he?” Thomas says.

James comes back into the kitchen just as Dolley is returning to what she was making, trying to act like she wasn’t watching him through the window, and he frowns at her. “One  beef  bourguignon and a duck confit, please.” he says solemnly, and Dolley turns to look at him.

“Your new little friend is with..?” she asks curiously.

“Her father.” James snaps, “who also happens to be the jerk from next door.”

“Really?” Dolley says, “the firefighter?” she asks, and James just sighs; Dolley turns away and taps her fingers on the counter, “He’s so… handsome.”

“No he is not.” James says seriously, “he’s a barbarian, he called my beef bourguignon beef stew.”

Dolley gasps, “No!” she says, and James frowns at her, “yeah, okay, I’ll get back to work.”

…

The following night, Thomas let's Patsy but the OPEN sign up in the window while the rest of the coworkers cheer. When he sets her back down on the ground she looks up at him, “What do we do now?”

Thomas looks up at the rest of the men standing there, “I guess we wait.”

“Wait?” Washington asks as he walks up with his wife on his arm, “I was told there would be no wait. You’ve been open two minutes, how could there be a wait, let’s go.”

The men laugh as he follows them inside. The restaurant fills up quickly, locals and members of the police force as well as follow firefighters eager to try it out. Thomas and Lafayette both stay busy in the kitchen and Hercules and Patsy take care of customers on the floor. 

_ Chez Varenne,  _ however, stays nearly empty, and the loud music from next door still isn’t being turned down. James walks from the host stand, where he can hear the music blaring, back through the kitchen and right out the back door, completely ignoring Dolley when she tries to ask him how much dough she wants him to make.

James marches through the alleyway, summons all the courage he has, and walks straight into the kitchen of The Five Alarm Grill, startling Thomas. “I thought we talked about the music.” James says, imitating a casual tone but clearly pissed off.

“Your memory does not fail you, that conversation did happen.” Thomas says, loudly over the sound, as he stirs something.

“So why does it sound like a rock concert in here!” James asks, and Thomas smiles down at him.

“You seem a little cranky.” Thomas comments, “Is it low blood sugar? Do you want something to eat?”

James scoffs, “No.” he says, “no thank you. So your passive aggressive response, I’m assuming means you’re not going to be turning down the music?”

Thomas looks around, “We’re having a little opening day celebration.”

“So that’s a yes?” James asks.

“Yes.” Thomas says bluntly.

“Yes.” James says tightly, then turns around and leaves the way he came in. Thomas looks back down at what he’s making, smiling and shaking his head. 

“Is that our new neighbor?” Lafayette asks.

“Yup!” Thomas says.

“He needs to loosen up.” Lafayette comments.

“Yup!” Thomas says again, “and I think we’re just the people to help him do it.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Uhhhh,” Adrienne says as she comes into the kitchen, “Chef Madison?”

“Yes.” James answers absently.

“The woman at table six says she wants the  Gnocchi Marinara Special?” Adrienne says hesitantly, and James looks up at her.

“I’m sorry, what?” he asks, and Dolley looks up, too.

“She said it was on our specials board.” Adrienne explains.

“We don’t have a specials board.” Dolley says.

James sets his knife down and follows Adrienne out onto the floor, and Dolley follows him. James walks ahead of Adrienne when someone calls for her attention and makes her way outside, where he finds a chalkboard set out front of their door and he grits his teeth. 

As he comes around to read it he looks up at the building next door and clenches his fists, “That bastard.” he hisses, and Dolley reads the board over his shoulder. It labels the evenings specials as Gnocchi Marinara Pasta, Shrimp Tempura and Spanakopita, three dishes that are not French and are in fact Italian, Japanese and Greek, respectively.

“Do you think he put this here?” she asks, and James looks up at her.

“I know he put this here.” he snaps, “he doesn’t know who he’s messing with, that  _ bastard _ .” he declares before storming back inside while Dolley follows quickly behind him.

…

Thomas follows the last customers of the night out as they leave, “Thank you so much for coming, please stop by again.” he says happily, waving them off. He’s about to go back inside when the couple walking past him says something that catches his attention.

“I can’t believe it,” one woman says, “that Gnocchi Marinara was incredible.”

“Oh, forget the pasta.” her girlfriend says, “I have never had  _ French  _ tempura before. So unique!”

Thomas watches them as they walk past and then looks back at the building next door and frowns, pushing the front door to his own restaurant open and going back inside.

…

The next morning James is removing the specials sign from out front and planning on stealing the chalkboard by taking it inside when Patsy comes walking by, and she greets him happily.

James fumbles with the chalkboard, trying not to look like he was planning on taking it back into the restaurant, “Good morning.” he says, flustered, “where are you going? All by yourself?”

“The bookstore.” Patsy says simply.

“Ah.” James says, picking at the chalkboard, “Books. They are good. I read them. Often. To relieve stress.”

“Stress?” Patsy asks, and James nods, “You should come work with the firemen.”

James can’t stop himself from laughing, “I should? I should - yeah? Oh? Why?”

“Well, they never seem stressed.” Patsy says, “even at the fire station they’re always goofing around and playing dumb games and playing pranks on each other.”

“Pranks!” James says, intrigued, “Really?”

“Yeah,” Patsy says, “they’re about as mature as the boys in my grade.”

James laughs again, “Yeah, that sounds about right.” he pauses, “So you said something about pranks? They play a lot of pranks on each other? Like what kind of pranks?”

…

Dolley and Adrienne come in at the same time later that day to find James hunched over the counter in front of the stove, boiling dozens of eggs, and clearly planning on boiling many more. Dolley pauses, “Are we expecting a run on quiches?” she asks.

“No.” James says, not looking at her.

“Well then, what are you doing?” Adrienne asks, and James smiles.

“Hard boiling eggs.” he says.

“Why?” Dolley asks, “nothing we serve has anything to do with boiled eggs.”

“Well, I thought the Five Alarm Grill guys might find them to be an interesting challenge.” is all James offers.

“Oh my God,” Adrienne says, smiling, “are you going to try to replace their eggs with hard boiled ones?”

“Okay,” Dolley says, smiling, “that’s very funny.”

“It’s just a little thank you for their unexpected input to my menu.” James says.

“How can I help?” Adrienne asks, and James taps his foot, unsure of how to word his request.

…

Adrienne walks into the Five Alarm Grill with the jacket of her uniform and her tie taken off, her button up shirt unbuttoned three buttons down and her hair taken out of it’s high ponytail. She comes up next to the waiter restocking their straws on the bar and touches his shoulder, “Hi!” she says, happily, and he stares at her.

“How may I be of service?” he asks, smiling, and Adrienne grins, leaning forward against the counter.

“Well, I just had the best meal of my  _ life _ here the other night and I wanted to personally thank the chef.” she catches herself, “ _ Chefs.  _ Everyone involved! In making the deliciousness that I enjoyed.”

“One moment.” the waiter says quickly, disappearing into the kitchen and reappearing a moment later with both Thomas and Lafayette.

“Hi!” Adrienne says brightly, “You’re the chef?”

“I’m one of them,” Thomas says, nodding to Lafayette.

“Hi! It’s so nice to meet you!” Adrienne drawls, and she clearly has all three of their full attention.

In the kitchen, James opens the back door and slips inside, opening up their fridge and grabbing their entire carton of eggs, replacing it with a carton of hard boiled ones and quickly slipping back out the door.

…

“These are all hard boiled.” Lafayette says, setting the carton of eggs down in front of Thomas, who frowns and cracks one just to be sure.

“Okay.” he says, upon realizing what has happened, “then it looks like we’re having a deviled egg special, in honor of the devil next door.”

…

Adrienne pushes open the door to the kitchen nervously, “Um, Chef Madison?” she asks.

“Yes.” James says vacantly.

“This man says that he’s here from the health department.” Adrienne says, which gets both Dolley and James’ attention, “Something about an anonymous tip that the restaurant was in need of an inspection.”

James smiles tightly, “How nice.”

…

Thomas passes by later that day just as James is taking down the large ‘A’ he had displayed in the window from the last time they were inspected, and Thomas pauses. “Oh  _ no,  _ did someone get a surprise visit from the health inspector today?”

James crumples up the ‘A’ and shoves it in his pocket, “Somebody did.” he says casually, taking the very new ‘A+’ and putting it up in the window. He smiles at Thomas, “doesn’t that look pretty?” he asks, before making his way back towards the kitchen.

…

Upon coming into the kitchen, Lafayette presses play on their CD played, only for the loud 80s rock they were expecting not to come out. Instead, very gentle violins play, and Thomas laughs, leaning back against the counter, and Lafayette looks up at him.

“Neighbor, again?” he asks, and Thomas shakes his head, smiling.

“He’s in way over his head.” he says, “just put in another CD.”

“I would love to.” Lafayette sys sarcastically, picking up the pile, “what would you like? We’ve got Bach. Mozart. Wagner. Verdi. And…” he turns the CD towards Thomas so he can see it himself, “Stravinsky.”

Just then the back door opens and there stands James, smiling happily. Thomas looks over at him, “I suppose you have an opinion on our music?” Thomas snaps.

“Yes, yes, I do actually.” James says, “Its  _ beautiful.  _ Feel free to turn that up. Have a good night!” he adds, then steps back out and shuts the door.


	4. Chapter 4

“Dolley.” James says, sitting at his desk on his laptop, “remind me again why I opened a restaurant during a recession.”

Dolley finishes folding her towel and sets it down on the counter, “Is it bad?”

James sighs, “No, it’s about the same.” he types something and then stops, “it’s just that eventually the same isn’t going to cut it. We’re just getting by at the point.”

Dolley comes to stand behind his chair, “What can we change?”

“Well obviously the ads we sent out didn’t work.” James mutters, sitting back in his chair, “nor did the coupons in the newspapers.” he rubs his face, aggravated, “it’s like people don’t know we’re here. They need to know we’re here.”

“Maybe that’s not the problem.” Dolley says gently.

“What do you mean?” James asks, leaning back to look up at her.

“The restaurant is lovely.” she says cautiously, “but your prices are higher than a lot of other places right around the corner. I mean, the Five Alarm Grill doesn’t seem to be suffering because of the economy.”

James sits back up straight and rolls his eyes, “Our prices are higher because the quality of our ingredients is higher.” he says defensively, “we have artful presentation - ”

“That’s part of the problem, too.” Dolley says, cutting him off, “high end food is not family friendly. I mean - last month you refused to give a family ketchup for their nine year old daughter. Look, perhaps if you served simpler stuff, maybe - ”

“Doll, I’m a classically trained French chef, I’m not going to dumb down my food.” James snaps, and then immediately regrets it when Dolley looks at him like he’s crazy, “look, we just need to do something better with marketing, and we can fix this.”

He glances at the radio, which is starting to play it’s weekly restaurant review with  George William Frederick. James sits straight up in his chair to listen while Dolley goes back to putting towels away. “That radio show.” James comments vaguely, and Dolley hums in acknowledgment, “I bet - I bet if we - I bet if he reviewed us - they did a review for the seafood place right down the street and I walked by the next day and there was a line out the door!”

Dolley looks back at his skeptically as he opens up a new tab and starts typing furiously, “It’s perfect, Doll, this is what I’m going to do and it’s perfect. I’m going to email them and it’s - it’s free publicity, Doll! It’s free publicity!”

Dolley nods knowingly and leaves him to himself, finishing folding the towels on the counter.

...

James sees Patsy as he’s leaving the farmers market, but tries to walk past her in hopes that she doesn’t recognize him when he’s not in uniform. This plan fails, because she spots him immediately and grabs his arm, pulling him back towards her, “James!” she says, happy to see him, and he nods.

“That is my name.” he mutters, “I see you everywhere now.” he looks at the baskets she’s standing in front of, “you’re shopping for onions?”

“Yeah!” Patsy says, “my dad sent me over here to get some. He’ll be back in a minute.”

“Ah.” James says, pulling his arm away slowly in an effort to not seem rude, “well, then, I should go. I have… I have a thing.” he tells her, turning around to escape.

Patsy hesitates, then she calls out after him, “James?”

He’s not far away enough yet to pretend he didn’t hear her, so he turns back around, “Yes?”

Patsy gestures to the onions, “Do you know which kind I should get?” she asks, “because my dad said to get two dozen, but I didn’t know there were so many kinds.”

James hesitates, then walks back over to her, “It’s actually a good question,” he says, “because there are a lot of different kinds for a lot of different things.” he picks one up, “so, a yellow onion is really good for  sautéeing, and for sauces and soups. Creams and shi - stuff - stuff like that.” he barely stops himself from cussing in front of a ten year old, and she smiles at him. He clears his throat, “um, but the yellow ones make you cry a lot.” he puts it back in the basket and picks up another, “um, Spanish onions are sweeter, you use them for onion rings - ”

“Okay.” Patsy says quickly, grabbing the onion out of his hand, “we need those.”

She drops it in her bag and James nods, “Okay. I figured as much.” he reaches over and grabs another onion, “red onions are the only ones you’re going to want to eat raw, so I’m going to assume these are what your dad is putting on burgers and sandwiches.”

“You’re right!” Patsy says happily, taking that onion from him, too.

James looks around to make sure Thomas isn’t anywhere near them, then says, “Okay, well, I really do have to go now, but you’ll, uh - you’ll come? Speak French? Sometime? Yes?”

“Sure.” Patsy says, now looking through the basket for more red and Spanish onions, and James nods.

“Okay, goodbye.” James says quickly, and leaves as quickly as he can. As soon as he’s gone Thomas comes back around the corner and watches him go, standing behind Patsy.

“Chef Madison helping you pick out some onions?” he asks, and Patsy looks up at him.

“Yeah.” she says happily.

Thomas glances at the onions she’s holding in her hand, then takes one from her gently, looking at it, “These are actually really good onions.” he mutters.

“Do you and James not like each other?” Patsy asks suddenly, and Thomas looks down at her, startled.

He hands the onion back to her and puts his hands in the pockets of his jacket, “I wouldn’t say we don’t like each other.” he says, turning to look at where James is waiting in line to buy his food at the same time James turns his head to look at them; he looks away quickly.

“He’s very…” Thomas pauses, then looks back down at the baskets full of fresh produce and says, “you know what? We really need to get our vegetables and be on our way.”

…

“Hey dad?” Patsy says, slipping past him as he works in the kitchen, “I’m gonna go next door. Pour parler français avec James.” she adds in broken French, and Thomas nods absently.

“Okay, sweetheart.” he tells her, clearly distracted. 

“What’s the matter?” Patsy asks, picking up on it, and Lafayette comes up next to her.

“Yes, what  _ is  _ that matter?” he asks, sensing his bad mood having something to do with the food he’s trying to make.

Thomas sets his spatula down and sighs, “Well, I just bought all this crab at the market and I was going to make those crabcakes that we made the other night.”

“Those were good!” Patsy comments.

“Yes,” Thomas says, “those were good. But these,” he gestures to the mess he’s trying to cook, “are not.”

“So,” Lafayette says, “you just dropped a bunch of cash on some crab and put a big sign outside that announces we’re having crabcakes as a special - are you telling me we’re not serving?”

“Well, I’m not going to serve crab mush sandwiches.” Thomas says, “not to mention the mush I’ve got going here doesn’t taste right. So as far as the customers are concerned we’re out of crab.”

“At eleven o’clock in the morning.” Lafayette says, and Thomas nods, his lips pursed. He follows Laf out of the kitchen to be the bearer of bad news, and Patsy hesitates, before grabbing the plate her dad had set out of two mushes of crabcakes and leaving out the back door.

She pushes open the back door of  _ Chez Varenne  _ and immediately almost runs into James, who’s stuffing papers into a folder. He starts at her sudden presence, “Patsy.” he says, setting the folder down on his desk, “What are you doing here? French? Now?”

“Actually,” Patsy says, handing the plate to him, “I need a favor.”

James takes the plate out of reflex, but clearly doesn’t enjoy the sight of the food on it. He turns and takes it over to the counter and sets it down, then opens a drawer and pulls out two forks and hands one to Patsy. They both take a bite and James winces a little bit, “Did your dad change the recipe at all?” he asks, and Patsy shakes her head.

“My dad doesn’t use recipes.” she says, and James blanches, “he says cooking is about instinct. You just know when it’s good.”

“Well, clearly that’s not true.” James says, mostly to himself, then focuses on the remnants of the food in his mouth, “um, alright, what we’ve got here is crab, eggs… breadcrumbs… probably some mayonnaise.” he says, shuttering slightly, “some dijon mustard… lemon juice - from a bottle, unfortunately… black pepper, some green onion… and  _ way  _ too much dill.”

Patsy blinks at him, “Wow.” she says, “you’re like a food psychic.”

“Yes.” James says bluntly, “and my psychic powers tell me that your dad made a little bit more than he usually makes today?”

Patsy pauses, “Yeah, he did.”

“Yeah,” James says, setting his fork down, “some recipes, you can’t multiply without making changes. The proportions are probably all off. Here,” he goes back to his desk and grabs a piece of paper and a pen and starts writing, “tell your dad to try this.” he mutters.

Patsy sets her fork on the counter and grabs the plate, following James to his desk. He finishes writing what he has in mind and folds the paper, handing it to her, and she smiles, “Thank you James.”

“My pleasure.” James says, mainly focused on how mad this is going to make Thomas, “you can come by anytime your dad needs help.”

Patsy nods, and just as she’s about to leave, he stops her, “Hey, Patsy?” she pauses and looks at him, “Can I ask? Why did your dad decide to open up a restaurant?”

“Oh.” Patsy says, closing the door the small amount she had opened it, “um, a few months after my mom died, my dad had to go put out this really big fire, and a ceiling beam fell like a foot in front of him. And after that he didn’t want to be a firefighter anymore.” she pauses, “he used to cook for the whole fire station, so they all decided to open a restaurant together.”

James looks down and taps his pen on the desk, sorry he asked, “What a great idea.” he mutters, “he sounds like a good dad.”

“He’s the best!” Patsy says, her face immediately brightening, “thank you, again, for the recipe.” she says, before she opens the back door.

“Au revoir.” James says.

“Au revoir.” Patsy returns.

“Goodbye, sweetie.” Dolley says suddenly, and her presence seems to startle Patsy, because she leaves very quickly. Dolley comes around the kitchen and slides up next to James, smiling, “Mr. Madison, that was very  _ friendly  _ of you.” she teases, and James rolls his eyes. 

Dolley continues, “You know I think that Patsy’s dad and you have something in common.”

James huffs, “Like what?”

Dolley nudges him, “A loss is a loss.” she says simply, and James won’t look at her.


	5. Chapter 5

“We had a good night tonight.” Dolley says cheerfully, going through the motions of cleaning up the kitchen.

James watches Adrienne show the last customers out through the window in the door, “Not great.” he says cynically.

Dolley rolls her eyes, but James continues, “I don’t know what to do.” he says, turning around and walking back towards his desk, “I’ve invited local food critics to come have a meal, had my friends write glowing reviews to every website I can get my hands on,” he pauses, “maybe I should write George William Frederick another email.”

Dolley stops what she’s doing and turns to face him, “I think you’re getting a little obsessed.” she says, “you’ve emailed him, you’ve left messages at the station - if you send that guy one more note, he’s not going to be doing a story of  _ Chez Varenne  _ he’s going to be reporting on a local restaurant owner who’s stalking him.” she pauses, “although that could work, too, if you’re interested in a different angle.”

James scowls at her, “That’s not funny.”

“It’s a little funny.” Dolley says, smiling.

…

Just after Dolley leaves for the night, James is holed up at his desk when someone knocks on the back door. He pauses what he’s doing and stands up, assuming it’s Dolley and she just forgot something, but when he opens the door Thomas is standing there instead with a plate of food. He smiles at him, a little strained, and James looks down at his shoes for a second before he looks back up, “It’s you.” he says, a little bitterly, and Thomas nods.

“It’s me.” he says, “can I come in?”

James hesitates, then steps aside without saying anything and holds the door for him. Thomas steps inside and James shuts the door, and then the two stand facing each other awkwardly.

Thomas holds the plate out, which James can see now has crabcakes on it, “Patsy told me she came by and you played food detective with my disastrous crabcakes.” he says.

James nods, “I did.”

“Well,” Thomas says, “these are much improved, so I wanted to thank you. And also I thought you might want to try some.”

“You’re welcome.” James says, taking the plate from him, “it was nothing really, it’s my job. Food.” he adds awkwardly, setting the plate on the counter. 

“Yes, but entertaining the whims of ten year old girls is not,” Thomas says, and James looks up at him, “so thank you for that, too.”

He’s about to continue, but James stops him and moves across the kitchen the listen to the review on the radio. Thomas watches him curiously as he turns it up until the restaurant is revealed, and it’s not his, then he turns it back down and huffs. He turns back around to face Thomas, “Sorry about that,” he starts to say, but this time Thomas interrupts him.

“Not a fan of Indian food?” Thomas asks, referencing the restaurant that’s being reviewed this evening.

James shakes his head, “No, no, no I’m sure it’s wonderful.” he says, “it’s uh…” he pauses, “actually it’s stupid.”

“You were hoping he’d be reviewing  _ Chez Varenne?”  _ Thomas guesses, and James purses his lips and nods, “Well, I don’t mean to sound like a jackass, but who cares what a toupee in a suit thinks, you know?”

James smiles, “Well, apparently a lot of people do.” he says, “his broadcast has been known to have a very… positive influence on restaurants. I was just hoping for maybe a little bit of a booste. My restaurant needs… a little booste.”

He falls silent, and suddenly Thomas says, “I’m closed on Mondays. I know you’re closed, too.” he pauses, hesitant, “I was wondering if I could take you to lunch.”

James looks up at him, and Thomas clarifies, “Just as a thank you. Which, considering everything, would mean declaring a truce first.” 

James looks away, “Good one. I know you’re kidding.”

“I’m not.” Thomas says quickly.

James is hesitant, but the longer Thomas looks at him the more obvious it is he’s being serious. “Okay.” James says finally, and Thomas smiles. 


	6. Chapter 6

Ideally, Thomas would have kept the location of where they were eating a secret, but James point blank refused to be blindfolded, only letting himself get so far out of his comfort zone. He especially wouldn’t have let Thomas keep him from seeing where they were going when he realized he was driving him out of the city, and he grew increasingly anxious trying to figure out where Thomas was taking him to eat, even though the man driving was very calm and kept asking him not to worry.

After driving for several minutes down a dirt road, which in it of itself made James uncomfortable, Thomas parked the car in the grass. At first James refused to even take his seatbelt off, “Where are we?”

“We’re at lunch.” Thomas tells him taking the key out of the ignition and unbuckling his seatbelt.

“Where?” James asks, “this isn’t a restaurant.”

“I never said restaurant, I said lunch.” Thomas points out, opening his door and climbing out, “if you’re really so concerned, you can check the location on your phone, but I promise first and foremost that I’m not trying to kidnap you.”

James frowns, “That’s not funny.”

Thomas rolls his eyes, but he’s smiling, and he shuts the door. Unwilling to be locked in the car, James follows him out. They walk for a few minutes, and there are a few other cars, James notices, until they finally come to the end of the dirt road where there rests a food truck, and James almost stops and turns around.

“A food truck?” he asks Thomas, “you drove me out of the city, into the middle of nowhere, and then made me walk ten minutes for a food truck?”

“You sound awfully cranky for someone who’s being bought lunch,” Thomas teases, and James looks away, “and if you must know, I parked far away because we beat the crowd. It’d be impossible to get out of here if I parked close, I’d hit someone.”

“Almost wish that someone was me.” James mutters, and Thomas rolls his eyes again.

They order their food and walk back to Thomas’ truck, where they sit in the back and eat. “Isn’t this the best shrimp sandwich you’ve ever had?” Thomas asks, and James hums.

“It is.” he says, “not only is it the first, it’s the best.” he pauses, thinking about it, “so the shrimp is marinated in a coconut bourbon reduction?” he asks, and Thomas nods; James thinks about it a little more, “Thai basil?” he asks, and Thomas nods again, “...poblano chili? A little bit of garlic… and green curry, obviously.” 

Thomas blinks, “Wow.” is all he can say at first, “yes, exactly, that’s - Patsy was right, you’re like a food psychic.”

“Yeah.” James agrees, and Thomas smiles at him; they lapse back into silence and James glances around. There are few trees, but the grass is tall, obviously never trimmed, and James can’t count how many blessings it is that his alergies haven’t kicked in yet. He looks back at Thomas, “This is really nice.” he says, trying to be sincere but mostly just cringing at his own voice, “thank you.” he adds.

Thomas is grining, “This is nothing.” he says, looking out at the landscape, then points at James’ shoes, “are those comfortable?”

“My shoes?” James asks, “yeah, I guess.”

“You want beautiful?” Thomas asks, standing up out of the bed of the truck, “I’ll show you beautiful.”

He starts walking, but in doing so he grabs James’ plate and takes it away from him, giving him a real insentive to follow him, which James does, begrudginly. He wonders how Thomas knew the promise of a pretty view wouldn’t have been enough to get him to go on a walk, but the promise of food would have convinced him.

…

Thomas lets James finish his food on the walk, but he throws it away as soon as they actually have to start walking upwards. He pulls him up a winding dirt path until they arrive at a grassy hilltop high enough to see where they’ve been, but not so much that they can see the city.

“There used to be a peach tree up here,” Thomas says, “pretty tree. But it got struck by lightning and died. Would have made a nice dessert.”

“Peaches is the name of my cat.” James says, sitting down in the grass. His allergies are definitely going to act up now, but he needs to sit after being dragged up a hill. 

Thomas sits down next to him, “Is that your favorite fruit?”

“No.” James says, “It’s my mom’s.”

“That’s a nice tribute.” Thomas says, “So, where did the name  _ Chez Varenne _ come from?”

“Well,  _ François Pierre La Varenne  _ was one of the founding fathers of French cuisine, back in the time of Louis XIV.” James says, “so I don’t know, when I think of French cooking with the precision and the technique I just think  _ Varenne _ .”

Thomas hums, and James looks over at him, “What?”

“Just wondering why you would pick such a sentimental name for you cat but not your restaurant.” Thomas comments.

“Well, a cat is a living, breathing thing,” James says, a bit defensively, “it’s something you care for it.”

“So is a restaurant.” Thomas says, “in order for it to thrive it needs love, it needs attention, it needs community. How is that any different from a pet?” he pauses when James is slow to answer, then adds, “but I could be wrong.”

“No,” James says, still not looking at him, “I think you make a good point.”

“That’s a first.” Thomas says, and James shoves him.

…

James still isn’t looking at him as they make their way back to Thomas’ truck, so he finally asks him if something is bothering him.

James shakes his head, “It’s nothing.” he says, then hesitates; he looks over at Thomas, who can clearly tell James does have something to say, so he takes a deep breath and says, “I just wanted to let you know that Patsy told me about your wife. And I wanted to say how sorry I was.” he rushes forward when Thomas makes a face, “but obviously you’re doing an amazing job with her. With Patsy. You’re doing great with Patsy.”

“Thank you.” Thomas says, “she’s a big fan of yours, by the way.”

“Well, maybe that’s because we have something in common.” James says slowly.

“Oh?” Thomas asks, “what’s that?”

James picks at the sleeve of his sweater, “I lost both of my parents when I was seventeen.” he says, “drunk driver, you know.”

Thomas’ gaze softens, “James, I’m sorry.”

“Me, too.” James says quickly, wanting to move on from the subject as quickly as possible.

…

When James gets home, he sets his keys down and immediately grabs his cat, who’s come to meet him at the door. “Peaches.” he says, “you wouldn’t believe the day I had.” he holds her so her face is level with his, “I am covered in dirt, and I had lunch from a food truck,” he says, vaguely disgusted, but he continues, “and I had the best day that I’ve had in a really long time.”


	7. Chapter 7

When James comes into work the next morning he greets Dolley very happily; she doesn’t respond to his enthusiasm at first, still focused on what she’s working on, “How was your day off?” she asks, and he hangs his coat up and smiles.

“It was great.” he says, then seems to catch himself, “Fine.” he corrects, trying to sound casual, “it was - you know I don’t know, it was - ” he huffs, “it was fine.”

Dolley nods, “Great with an immediate downgrade to fine.” she comments, “do you want to talk about it?”

James avoids her eye, “Nothing to talk about.” she raises her eyebrows at him, and he points to what she’s doing, “should I get started on the bread? Do you think?”

Dolley watches his as he walks around the kitchen, his steps lighter than they usually are, and she narrows her eyes, “You’re humming.” she comments, and he immediately stops.

…

“So how was your day off?” Lafayette asks and he and Thomas pull the chairs down on the floor. 

Thomas pauses, “Why?” he asks, “I mean, it was just an average day, I went for a walk, got something to eat, that’s all.” he adds, a little too quickly, and Lafayette looks at him curiously.

“If it was such an average day, why does it sound like you need to go to confession to deal with it?” he asks.

…

“James, where’s the salmon?” Dolley asks lightly, and James stops what he’s doing. He slowly picks his brush up, looks at it in his hands, and then looks up at Dolley; the only sound he manages to make is, “Heh.”

Dolley looks back at him, “What?”

He hesitates, “I didn’t go to the market yesterday.” he says slowly, “we’re out of salmon.”

Dolley closes the freezer and stares at him, “You forgot?”

“I did not forget.” James says defensively, “I was out all day and - I - we have ham. I will make a nice ham and roasted vegetable taurine.”

Dolley watches him for a few more moments as he goes back to what he was doing, but she doesn’t push it.

…

“Thomas, seriously?” Hercules asks, referring to the classical music he has turned up in the kitchen.

“It’s growing on me.” Thomas says absently, and Lafayette rolls his eyes.

“Give the guy a break, Herc.” he says, “his judgment is a bit clouded at the moment.” he adds, knowingly, and Thomas barley seems to notice what he said.

…

Dolley watches James weakly try to whip a bowl of cream, but after witnessing him mostly just messing with the whisk and letting the bowl spin as he tries to stir it, she reaches over and takes the whisk out of his hand, “I’m done acting like a dumbass.” she says, and James looks up at her, a bit startled, “tell me what’s wrong. You’ve been all over the place all day.”

“There’s nothing wrong.” James says dismissively, trying to take the whisk back, but she drags the bowl away from him, too, “can I make my whipped cream?” he asks.

“Did something happen yesterday?” Dolley asks.

“What would have happened yesterday?” James asks, blushing, and Dolley has known him long enough to know when he’s embarrassed, “it was my day off, and it - it was just my day off.”

“Okay.” Dolley says, setting the whisk down in the bowl and turning away, “then I am on strike until you talk.”

“What?” James asks in horror.

…

“So that’s what you did with your day off?” Lafayette asks, and Thomas nods, “That’s great.”

Thomas looks back over at him, “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” Lafayette continues, “I mean, it’s been three years. It’s okay to get excited about someone. Martha would have wanted that for you.”

“I know.” Thomas says, looking away again, “I mean, I know that here.” he points to his head, then moves his hand to cover his heart, “not so much here. Plus, I worry about Patsy.”

“Well you already said Patsy adores him.” Lafayette says.

“She does.” Thomas says, “but then what happens if she gets all attached and it doesn’t work out - ”

“You’re putting the cart before the horse.” Lafayette tells him, and Thomas looks back at him, a bit miffed. Lafayette looks back down at what he’s working on, “I think you’re just freaked out about dating. How long has it been?”

“Sixteen years?” Thomas says.

Lafayette nods, “Yeah, it’s probably time to get back on that horse.”

“The one in front of the cart?” Thomas asks, and Lafayette laughs.

…

“Doll, can you please come back and peel the potatoes - ” James pleads, unsuccessfully.

“I will get to that, as soon as you talk.” Dolley says, sitting in the chair at his desk.

“Dolley, please don’t be ridiculous.” James says.

“What happened yesterday?” she asks, unphased by his whining.

James squirms, “I went - I had a - I went on a kind of date.” he finally manages, and Dolley gasps, “that’s it.” James adds.

“With  _ who?”  _ Dolley presses, almost furious he didn’t immediately tell her everything.

“With - Thomas.” James says, refusing to make eye contact with her, and Dolley gasps even louder and stands up out of the desk chair.

She walks towards him very quickly, “Thomas the handsome firefighter, that Thomas?” she asks, which makes James ten times more embarrassed.

“Yeah, sure, I guess.” James says, and Dolley grabs his arm and yanks him into a hug despite his protests.

“James,” she coos, “that’s wonderful,” she pulls away from the hug for a moment and squeezes his arms tightly,  _ “I can’t believe you didn’t tell me right away.” _ she adds, a bit menacingly.

“You’re hurting me.” James says, and she lets go even though that was clearly her intent.

“How was is?” she asks as he makes his way to the other side of the kitchen, “was it a nice date?”

“Yeah, it was nice, it was very nice.” James says, “but that’s not the point.”

Dolley stares at him, “What  _ is  _ the point?” she asks.

“The point, Doll, is that I’m a chef and this is my restaurant and I need to, you know,  _ be here.”  _ he says, “I can’t be off doing something with someone else, because then it just leads to  _ well I wanna move away  _ and  _ I want you to pick my daughter up from school  _ and I’m like woah hey I didn’t sign up to take your daughter to school, love her, she’s great, but, you know, and then he wants to get married move out to the suburbs and then suddenly  _ sell your business I don’t want you to work anymore  _ what, what do you  _ mean _ you don’t want me to work anymore, I - this - this is my  _ dream _ , you  _ know  _ that this is my dream that’s how we  _ met  _ and suden - and his - and his  _ mother _ \- his mother doesn’t like French food -  _ who  _ doesn’t like French food are you kidding me - !”

“Wow!” Dolley says suddenly, effectively cutting him off even though it seems like he could have gone forever; she grabs him by his arm again, “Wow!” she says again when she can’t think of anything to respond to that with.

…

Thomas catches James when he’s finishing getting the dining area ready, although thankfully he doesn’t startle him because James sees him coming. He also sees the bouquet of flower coming and has to try hard not to wince. Thomas notices him staring at them, though, and hands them to him, “I got these for you.” he says.

“You shouldn’t have.” James says gently, taking them.

“I also wanted to make sure you knew that I had a lot of fun yesterday, and I’d really love to do that again.” Thomas tells him.

“Yeah.” James says awkwardly, and Thomas hesitates.

“I thought we were both having a good time yesterday.” he says, and James shakes his head.

“We did.” he insists.

“But?” Thomas presses.

“Maybe too good of a time.” James finishes, “I just think that maybe I’m not the relationship kind of person. This restaurant has been my dream for ten years, and I’ve tried really hard to make a success of it, but I can’t do that when I’m,” he looks at the bouquet in his hands, “distracted.”

Thomas nods, “Okay.”

“But you know we’re still neighbors.” James says quickly, “because we’re right next to each other, so we’re neighbors. So I really hope that we can still be… neighbors.”

“You bet.” Thomas says, trying not to smile at his choice of words, “I’ll see you around, then?”

“Yes.” James says.

“Because we’re neighbors.” Thomas adds, and James nods, embarrassed, and Thomas turns to leave and Patsy has to run back next door to pretend she wasn’t listening in on the whole thing.

…

Dolley coos when James comes into the kitchen with a bouquet of flower, “Are those from Thomas?” she asks, making a knowing face, “they’re beautiful. Did he ask you out on an official date?”

“Yes, he did.” James says stiffly, pulling a metal pitcher down from the shelf and filling it up with water, “and I said no.”

Dolley drops what she’s doing, “Why the hell would you say no? You’re clearly smitten with him.” 

“Doll, you said it yourself, okay?” James snaps, “I’m just - I’m not here, I haven’t been here - I forgot the fish! I’ve never done that before! First time! Ever! You know and that’s only after one almost, kinda,  _ maybe  _ date-ish! Right? God forbid I should get anymore distracted.”

Dolley is gaping at him, “Jemmy there is  _ nothing wrong  _ with having your head in the clouds! You don’t always have to be in complete control all the time!”

“Yes I  _ do.”  _ James insists, dropping the flowers into the pitcher, “I do, Dolley. This is my restaurant, this is my livelihood, it is mine to make a success and it is my failure if I lose focus.” he pauses, “and I - I - I’m better on my own.” he grabs the pitcher of flowers and puts them on his desk.

“James, come on.” Dolley tries to say, following him.

“I’m going to go finish tidying up the dining room,” James says abruptly, “you’re good in here? Right? You’ve got this? Thank you, Dolley, I appreciate it.” he tells her, and then disappears out onto the floor and leaves Dolley by herself.


	8. Chapter 8

“And then Theo laughed so hard that root beer came out of her nose!” Patsy exclaims while following her dad around the farmers market; Thomas nods, a bit absently, “isn’t that funny?” Patsy asks.

“It’s very funny.” Thomas says.

Patsy pauses, “And then we hijacked a police car and took a joyride down to Mexico!” she tells him, in the same tone, and he nods again.

“Sounds like fun.” he tells her, clearly distracted, and she rolls her eyes. She follows him a little further down until she sees James standing in line waiting to look at something. She pauses, but then she grabs her dad by the arm and pulls him backwards, which startles him.

“Dad, look!” she shouts, “there’s James! We should say hi!”

Thomas glances back to where she’s referencing, spotting James and then quickly looking down at his daughter, “Hey, uh, let’s let him shop, okay?” he says, not trying very hard to get out of her grip, “I’m sure he wants to be alone.”

“James!” Patsy yells, ignoring her dad, and James starts slightly and looks up to see Patsy pulling Thomas towards him, who is now seeming to realize that he can’t escape this conversation. 

When she finally pulls all three of them together, it’s clearly evident she doesn’t have a plan when James and Thomas don’t start talking on their own. Patsy panics, and says, “Did you really mean it when you said I could come cook with you, James?”

James blinks, “Did I say that?” he asks, genuinely unsure.

“Yes!” Patsy lies, “after you gave me the uh… crabcake recipe to fix the one my dad made you said you could teach me how to make some the way you do! If I ever wanted to.”

James looks down at his shoes, then back at her, “Then sure.” he says, awkwardly, not wanting to disappoint, “yeah, if you want. Sure.” 

“Thank you, James.” Patsy says, beaming, then she looks up at her dad, “I’m going to go get some lemonade.” she tells him, and before he can protest being left alone with James she runs.

Thomas looks back down at James, “She really likes you.” he says, a tad apologetic, “seems to run in the family.”

James blushes and looks away, obviously not wanting to comment, so Thomas leaves him alone.

…

Patsy comes by the next day to keep the scheme of forcing them to talk to each other going, and James agrees to show her how to cook something while Dolley handles prep for a while on her own. He doesn’t have the stuff to teach her how to make his (correct, he’ll insist) version of a crabcake, but he offers to teach her how to make a  Croque Monsieurs instead.

“A crunchy mister?” she asks after she thinks about it for a moment, and James laughs.

“That’s what it translates to, literally, yeah.” he says, “but honestly all it really is is a fancy grilled cheese sandwich with ham.”

He teaches her how to pronounce it when she asks, then she says, “Crunch mister sounds funnier.”

“It does.” James agrees.

…

Patsy ambushes James the next time she sees him at the market, “Look what my dad bought me!” she says, excitedly, once again catching James off guard.

She holds the bag out to him and he looks into it once he recovers, “Some bread? Some gruyère cheese? Some ham and some mustard,” he pauses, looking at her face to find her beaming at him, and he looks away, “are you making crunchy misters?”

She laughs, “Yes, I am!” she tells him happily, “my dad said I could cook for him on his day off.” she stares at James, her eyes glittering, “you should come, James!”

“Oh, you know, uh,” James pauses, trying not to look at her because he knows she’ll persuade him if he does, “that would be really nice, but - ”

“You taught me how to make it, so you have to come.” Patsy insists, and James finally looks at her and sighs; she shifts her eyes from his face to something behind him, “It’s fine, right dad?” she asks, and James starts again, realizing Thomas has been standing behind him for who knows how long.

Thomas smiles at him, “James is always welcome, I would just assume he has other plans.”

James sighs again, then looks at Patsy, “I would love to come.” he says, his voice a bit strained, “as long as I can bring the dessert.”

…

“So how is, uh, la petite chef doing?” James asks after Thomas lets him inside that night.

Thomas closes the door, “She’s hard at work.” he says, “and she’s taking it very seriously.” he glances nervously at the dining room, “she lit the candles.” he adds quickly.

James nods, “That’s nice.” 

Patsy has insisted on having no assistance in the kitchen, so Thomas shows James to the dining room instead. He pours them each a glass of wine and they sit down across from each other, waiting for Patsy who is almost finished. It doesn’t take her much longer to serve them, which she does so very proudly, adding that they have extra cheese, and James and Thomas both compliment her immediately because it looks and smells delicious.

They wait for her to sit down with her own plate before they each take a bite, and Thomas immediately exclaims, “Oh, my god, this is so good, sweetheart.”

“Is it like really good?” Patsy asks, “or is it just good for a kid?”

“What’s kid good?” Thomas asks, looking at her with smiling eyes.

“Like it’s good for a kid but not an adult, or you say it is because it’s not that good but you say it is because you don’t want to hurt my feelings.” Patsy explains, and Thomas and James glance at each other across the table, both amused.

“Personally, I think it’s grown-up delicious.” Thomas says, smiling when Patsy beams at him, “but what do I know? I’m just your dumb, old dad, why don’t we ask the expert? James?”

_ “ _ _ Ce dîner est délicieux.” _ James says, and Patsy stares at him.

“That’s not fair, I don’t know what you said!” she exclaims.

Thomas leans over towards his daughter,  _ “Tu es très talentueux et tu va grandir pour être un chef merveilleux.” _ he says affectionately, in very well spoken French, and James almost chokes on the food in his mouth; Patsy doesn’t seem to notice because she’s busy looking at her dad, “This is very delicious, Patsy, and we’re both very proud of you, I’m sure.”

James stares at Thomas for a moment, “Do you speak French?”

“Oh, yeah, I studied it in highschool and college.” Thomas says, casually, “didn’t Patsy tell you that was why she wanted to learn? Because she thinks her dad is cool.”

“Then why did you pronounce  _ confit _ like that?” James asks, because it’s the only thing he can think about, and Thomas shrugs, “why did you let me  _ correct  _ you?”

Thomas just takes another bite of his food in response, but his eyes are still smiling.

…

“Okay,” Patsy says, standing up out of her chair, “I’m gonna go do the dishes.”

“Absolutely not,” Thomas says, grabbing her arm, “you cook, I clean, that’s the rule.”

“You don’t make me do the dishes when you cook.” Patsy points out, picking her plate up.

“I can help,” James says, “we can all - ”

Patsy takes his plate away from him before he can stand up, “You’re gonna teach me how to make bread tomorrow.”

“I am?” James asks.

“Yes.” Patsy says, putting his plate under hers and then grabbing her dads, “I’m going to do the dishes, no arguments.”

“By all means,” Thomas says, finally accepting, and he and James both hand her their silverware and Thomas watches her disappear into the kitchen.

“She really is a lovely young lady.” James comments, and Thomas looks back at him.

“Thank you.” he says quietly, “I’m worried that she’s growing up too fast. She acts like she has to take care of me now that her mom’s gone.” he sighs, “Thank you for coming, by the way. It meant a lot to her.” he points to the pie James brought along with him, now sitting in the center of the table with three slices cut out of it, “And thanks for this, this was delicious. And it’s a work of art, it’s almost architectural.”

James laughs softly, “Well, I guess that’s French cuisine.”

“Very specific, very technical.” Thomas observes.

“Yes.” James says, “probably exactly the reason I was attracted to it.”

“How so?” Thomas asks, taking a sip of his drink.

James hesitates, “When I was a kid my parents would take me and my siblings to this place called  _ Françoise _ . And we’d go every Sunday for breakfast. But when my parents passed my grandparents were in the process of selling their house, so we ended up moving away. But I would go back every once and a while to just feel close to them. Sometimes I would take my siblings.” he pauses, “and one day I found myself being hired as a waiter there, which was really nice. And a few months after that a line cook got sick and they asked me to help out, which was even better. And for the first time since my parents died I felt like I was doing something I was supposed to be doing.”

Thomas watches him for a moment, then says, “You’re an excellent cook.”

“Thank you.” James says.

“I mean I threw Italian, Japanese, Greek food at you, I’d have thought you were trained in all of those cuisines, too.” Thomas tells him, and James smiles, blushing a bit, “have you ever thought of strayed from such traditional French dishes?”

“Well French food is definitely that,” James says, “it’s very precise, very exact, very detailed. But at least I know that there’s a right way and a wrong way to do things. And I find it very comforting because the rest of the world doesn’t exactly follow those rules all the time.”

Thomas stares at him, hesitant, “When Martha died it was so confusing. I’m a firefighter and when I go to work every day I know I’m putting my life on the line. But the whole idea that she was at home and that  _ she  _ was in danger - ”

In the kitchen, Patsy drops something in the sink, evident by the loud splashing noise and her squeal. Thomas starts and turns around in his chair, ready to jump up, “Are you okay?” he asks.

“Yes!” Patsy yells back.

“Are you sure you don’t need help?” James asks.

“Yes!” Patsy says again, and Thomas turns back to him.

“She’s very stubborn.” James comments, then he looks at Thomas, “Where does she get that from?” he asks, and Thomas laughs.

…

“Tonight was fun when James came by, wasn’t it, dad?” Patsy asks eagerly, while he helps her at least dry the dishes.

“Sure.” Thomas says, because it was.

Patsy hesitates, then she says, “He’s handsome.”

Thomas looks at her for a moment, then goes back to drying his dish. Patsy presses him, “Don’t you think he’s handsome?”

“What’s up, sweetheart?” he asks, decided to skip this conversation and get straight to the hard part.

Patsy sets her towel and the plate she’s holding on the counter and looks up at him, “Before mom died, she said that one day you’d meet someone really nice.” she pauses, “you might even want to get married again.”

“Patsy - ” Thomas says, because she’s going a little steadfast into the conversation and he wasn’t expecting it.

“She said that you might feel like you’re cheating on her even though she’s not here anymore.” Patsy continues, not listening to him, “and that I could help you move on.”

Thomas looks at her for a long moment, struggling to figure out how to continue. Finally he sets his plate and his towel down, too, and sits down next to her, “Listen.” he says, “I know that you like James, but are you really ready for me to date?”

“Yes.” Patsy says quickly, then she looks away and back up at him, “I mean, I think so.”

Thomas sighs, and Patsy says, “Mom was right, you shouldn’t have to be alone.”

Thomas looks down at her, “You know you’re just like her.”

“I am?” Patsy asks, her voice cracking.

“Of course.” Thomas says, and Patsy looks down and starts to cry; he flinches and moves closer to her, “hey, it’s okay.” he says, wishing he hadn’t said it, “that’s not a bad thing, I promise.”

Patsy looks up at him, “I can’t hear her anymore.”

Thomas frowns, “What?”

“Mom’s voice.” Patsy insists, “I used to hear it in my head telling me that she loved me. To do my homework. To brush my hair.” she pauses, tears streaming down her face, her face blotchy, “Now it’s all gone.”

Thomas hesitates, unsure of what to say, so instead he picks her up out of the chair and holds her while she cries, “That happens to people who lose somebody they love.” he says slowly, “sweetheart, I promise it’s just your brain’s way of protecting you.” he pauses, trying not to cry himself and failing, “making you forget a little bit so that your heart doesn’t keep breaking.”

“I love you.” Patsy says suddenly, clinging to him.

“I love you, too.” Thomas says gently, clinging to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey fuckers i cried in the library at school in front of a big group of preps while i was writing this so leave a fucking comment thx


	9. Chapter 9

“Dolley?” James asks from his desk, “is the dining room ready to go?”

“Yeah, of course.” Dolley says, a bit absently. He turns around to look at her and finds her perches by the counter holding a bouquet and reading the note that came with it. He clears his throat and she looks up at him, then blushes, quickly tucking the note back into the flowers and stepping towards him, “These are for you.” she says, knowingly, and James frowns at her but picks the note up and reads it. 

_ Thank you for the dessert and the company. -Thomas. _

…

James knocks on the back door of the Five Alarm Grill and then opens it. Thomas is the only one in the kitchen, thankfully, and he greets him enthusiastically and invites him inside. 

“I know that you’re busy.” James says, referring to the fact that they’re already open for the day, “I just wanted to, uh, say thank you for the flowers.”

Thomas smiles, “I thought I’d try again.” he says, pausing what he’s doing, “I know you said no when I asked you out, but I was really hoping you would reconsider.”

James hesitates, so Thomas starts to continue, “I just feel like you and I - ”

His cell phone rings and he pauses, disgruntled by the timing; James smiles at him. Thomas pulls his phone out of his pocket then looks at James apologetically, “One second.” he says, answering the call, “Yes?”

“Hey, Thomas.” Lafayette says, “listen, Patsy just got a little bump on her head.”

“What?” Thomas asks, his brow knitting in concern.

“Yeah, she was jumping on the trampoline with Theo and her foot got caught in the springs.” Lafayette tells him.

“I’ll be right there.” Thomas says, immediately looking around, trying to find his bag.

“No, no, no,” Lafayette says, “listen, I already checked her out and I think she’s fine, okay?”

“Oh, yeah, dad I’m totally fine!” Patsy says, her voice faint because she’s further away from the phone, “Don’t worry about me, I’ll see you at home.”

“See?” Lafayette says, “she’s perfectly fine. I’m just following protocol for a head injury, we’re leaving the ER right now. Why don’t you just stay at the restaurant and I’ll call you when I get her home - ”

Thomas hangs up on him, then looks around the kitchen and then back at James, “Patsy got hurt, I’ve gotta go.” he says quickly, stepping forward and grabbing his coat from by the door.

“Is she okay?” James asks, concerned.

“Don’t worry, she’ll be fine.” Thomas says quickly.

“Can I help?” James asks.

“Just call the chief.” Thomas says, then disappears out the back door.

…

“Patsy’s gonna be fine.” Dolley says once James tells her about what happened.

“Yeah,” James says distantly, trying to focus on what they’re working on, “yeah, yeah, you’re right?”

“Are you okay?” Dolley asks, looking over at him, and he nods, “what are you gonna say to Thomas when he gets back?”

James pauses, looking up, but he doesn’t say anything; Dolley continues, “I think you should just go over there and say thank you and - ” she pauses when she notices James looking around, “What?”

James looks back at her, “Do you smell something?”

…

“What the  _ hell  _ are you doing?” James asks when he walks back into the kitchen of the Five Alarm Grill to find Washington spraying the grill with a fire extinguisher.

“I don’t know!” Washington says back, “I’m just an investor here! I’m not even supposed to cook! I told Thomas I couldn’t!”

“Then why are you - ” he starts to say the word ‘cooking’ but as he gestures to the disaster in front of them he hesitates to be so generous, “That. What is  _ that.” _

“Hercules is on duty at the firehouse, and Laf and Thomas are  _ both  _ with Patsy at the hospital.” Washington explains, “and frankly, I should join them, because they’re gonna give me a pounding when they see what I did to their kitchen. There’s nothing left to serve! It’s all covered in flame retardant.”

James swallows nervously, looking at the mess before them, then says, “Yes, it is.”

…

“Was there something wrong next door?” Dolley asks when James comes back inside.

“Well,” James says, glancing out at the dining room through the window, “the fire chief almost burned the place down, if you can believe that irony.” he turns back to Dolley, “he has customers, and no food.” he looks back through the window, where the only person in the dining room is Adrienne, setting up the host stand, “and from the looks of things here Adrienne could probably handle it herself.” he looks to Dolley again, “would you come and help me run Thomas’ kitchen? Patsy is hurt and the last thing he needs to do is lose business and come back to a mess.”

Dolley raises her eyebrows, “Of course I will.”

…

“Dad, I’m fine.” Patsy insists as Thomas carries her inside, “Okay,  _ thank you,”  _ she says once they’re in through the door, “can you put me down please?” Thomas just grunts as he shuts the door, “Dad?” she says again, “dad,  _ stop.”  _ she whines as he carries her into the living room, “I’m  _ fine!”  _

He sets her down on the couch and disappears into the kitchen for a moment; Patsy calls after him, “You heard the doctor, you can go back to work!”

“That’s not gonna happen, I’m in for the night!” Thomas calls back, and Patsy huffs. 

“Dad.” she says seriously, “you left the chief in charge. I think  _ you’re  _ the one with the head injury.”

“What’s the worst that can happen?” Thomas asks, coming back around the corner with a spoon in one hand and a pint of ice cream in the other, “listen.” he says, kneeling down next to her, “sweetheart. I know that this restaurant has taken over our lives this summer, but  _ you  _ are my number one priority.”

He holds the pint of ice cream up, which stops Patsy from pouting, but instead of handing it to her he places it against her head, and she frowns at him, “Really dad?”

“You’ve got a nasty bump there, you’ve gotta ice it.” Thomas tells her.

“Are you done?” she asks, and he lowers the pint and hands it to her, along with the spoon.

…

James rings the bell on the counter after he sets the two dishes down just as Washington comes back around the corner; he points to them, “One beef stew and one crabcake.” he tells him.

Washington picks the two dishes up, “This beef stew is a big success.” he tells James, who just nods before heading back into the kitchen.

“The chief says people are liking the beef stew.” he tells Dolley, and she rolls her eyes.

“What does that idiot know, he almost burned the place down.” she says, and James elbows her lightly, “ _ but,  _ you know what, he is kind of cute in that big burly kind of,” she growls, “kind of way.” she finishes, and James shoves her again.

She continues, “Firemen are - god, I love firemen. They’re just - wow.” she looks at James,, who’s staring at her,  _ “Dolley, get back to work _ , is that what you’re thinking?”

James picks up the plate she’s just finished with, “A little.”

“But they  _ are,”  _ Dolley adds, even as he walks away, “It’s unbelievable. It really is extraordinary. EMT’s. Firemen. Cops not so much, but you know what? I’m talking to myself now.”

…

“Yes, I do believe this is the place.” George William Frederick says as he gets out of the car, “ _ Chez  _ _ Varenne.  _ Let’s get a couple of those beauty shots, shall we?” he asks, posing in front of the door for a photo.

“That stew was amazing.” a man says as he walks in front of him, preventing him from taking the photo.

“Everything was amazing.” his husband agrees, and George pauses, turning and looking at where they’d just emerged from the Five Alarm Grill.

“Aha.” he says, “well, shall we see what this is all about?” he asks, turning towards the restaurant next door and making his way inside.

…

The doorbell rings late that night, waking Thomas where he was half asleep, propped up on the couch with Patsy’s legs laying across his lap. He lifts her off him slowly so as not to wake her and gets up, making his way to the door. When he opens it, Washington stands there.

“Hey, chief.” he says, a bit sleepily, “come on in.”

Washington steps inside, then notices Patsy on the couch, “Oh, she’s out.” he observes, “I don’t want to wake her.” he looks back at Thomas, “I just came by to tell you everything went really smoothly.”

“It did?” Thomas asks.

Washington hesitates, “No, it didn’t.”

“What happened?” Thomas asks.

“I almost destroyed the place.” Washington confesses, “I almost burned it down. But your cute neighbor came by and took charge.”

Thomas raises his eyebrows, “James?” he asks, “that cute neighbor?”

“James,” Washington says, “that would be the one.”

…

The next morning, James can’t stop looking at the new bouquet that’s sitting on his desk as he works on prep with Dolley. She glances between him and the flowers, then says, “You may have to ask  _ him  _ out this time.”

James looks down, blushing, “Get back to work.” he says weakly.

After work, however, James is opening the door to take the trash out and accidentally startles Thomas, who was just about to knock. He retracts his hand quickly, “Hi.” he says.

“Hi.” James returns, a bit startles; he slips past him to throw the trash away.

“Uh,” Thomas follows him, “I owe you another thank you. Last time was the second time you swooped in and saved the grill.”

James turns back to look at him once he’s thrown the trash away, “It was no problem.” he says, “really, I was just happy to help.” he pauses, “and actually, I was really hoping we could maybe finish the conversation that we had started earlier.”

Thomas smiles, “I would like that.”

James is about to continue when he hears Dolley yell in the kitchen, “James! Get in here right now! Hurry!”

James frowns and runs inside, worried, and Thomas follows him. “What’s wrong?” he asks, when Dolley practically jumps on him as he comes in the door and drags him back into the kitchen.

“The restaurant thing it’s - it’s - it’s on.” she says, pointing to the radio, and James heaves a sigh.

“Oh my god, Doll, you scared me, I thought something was on fire.” he says and Thomas comes to stand next to them.

“Well you’ve gotten me so worked up that it could be us on here, I got excited.” Dolley says apologetically.

“And now,  George William Frederick has  _ the  _ place to eat this weekend.” the newscaster’s voice says, cheery as ever, and all three of them listen very intently.

“Thank you, Angelica.” George says, “well, there’s a little twist in tonight’s tale. You see, there’s a delightful, charming little French restaurant called  _ Chez  _ _ Varenne,”  _ he says, and Dolley grabs James’ arm and neither of them can stop themselves from squealing; George is still talking, though, “the owner and chef has been inviting me for quite some time to come down there and try a meal. However,” he pauses, and so do Dolley and James, “the other evening, while I had every intention of eating at  _ Chez  _ _ Varenne,  _ I couldn’t help but notice a new addition to the neighborhood, just next door in fact. It was a high energy, home cooking establishment called the Five Alarm Grill. It’s run entirely by firefighters from the local station who serve up traditional and delicious dinners.”

He continues talking, but James turns away bitterly, already intent on not hearing anything else he has to say. Thomas tries to follow him, “James, I don’t believe this, I’m so sorry - ”

“James - ” Dolley starts to say.

“I’m done.” James says, very weakly, as he unbuttons his smock. 

“You’re done with what?” Thomas asks.

“The all of it.” James says.

“James you don’t mean that.” Dolley says.

“I do.” James tells her, “I’ve wanted to be a chef half my life, it was a goal I strived for, and I did a good job. I am classically trained, I have traveled the world, I’ve build this restaurant to something I could be proud of and I was so sure that one day I was going to be a success.” he looks at Thomas, “and then  _ you  _ show up, you build a restaurant on a  _ whim,  _ did you know that nine out of ten new restaurant fail? But  _ no,  _ you’re an  _ overnight success,  _ while I struggle on a  _ daily basis.”  _ he finishes taking his smock off, leaving him in just his shirt and his white pants, and he tosses it on the floor, “it’s almost perfect, me cooking at your restaurant on the night of your rave review. It’s like driving the final nail into the coffin of  _ Chez  _ _ Varenne.” _

“Don’t say that - ” Thomas tries to say.

“Why not!?” James asks, “because your restaurant is going to be an even  _ bigger  _ success tomorrow and mine is just going to keep being ignored and mine is going to close in three months and nobody is even going to notice it’s gone. So yes, I am done.” he says, turning and pushing the backdoor open, bothering himself to only grab his keys before he’s gone.

Dolley looks away, then back at Thomas, who’s clearly contemplating running after him, “Thomas I’m sorry.” she says, and he looks back at her, “he’s a passionate person, sometimes a little too much.” she pauses, stepping over and picking his smock up off the ground, “it’s just that this restaurant is all he’s had, and all he’s wanted. Until he met you.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> dun dun dunnnn


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is where The Extra Cheesy Thing happens so,,,,,,, get ready for That

James comes back later that night, after he’s had time to cry, to retrieve his bag. He was hoping Dolley would be gone by then, but she’s still in the kitchen with the radio turned up. He doesn’t look at her as he closes the door, “Whatever you’re going to say, Doll, please do not interject the phrase  _ handsome firefighter  _ into it.”

Dolley sets a glass of wine down in front of him on his desk and leans against it, her own glass in her hand, “Would you prefer  _ crybaby woe-is-me melodramatic chef who overreacts and throws an incredible man under the bus?” _

James doesn’t even try to fight her, “Doesn’t really have the same ring to it.”

Dolley takes a sip of her wine, then says, “You have to know this wasn’t Thomas’ fault.”

James hesitates, “I know.”

“There is more to life than cooking, James.” Dolley continues, “you can’t keep shoving people away because they’re getting in the way of letting you only focus on this business. Because if you keep shoving, people are going to stop coming back.”

James is quiet for a very long time; he takes a sip of his wine, then asks, “on a scale of one to ten, how badly do you think I fucked up?”

Dolley raises her eyebrows, “Why does it only go up to ten?”

The back door of the kitchen opens and Patsy comes in, followed by Lafayette; James sits up a little bit in his chair, “Hi, Patsy.” he says, his voice still a bit raspy from crying.

“Hi.” Patsy says, “do you maybe know where my dad is?”

“Yeah, he - ” James starts to say, even though he’s not entirely sure, but Dolley cuts him off.

“He’s on the radio!” she says loudly, startling the rest of them.

“What?” James asks, as she stands up and sets her wine glass down on his desk.

“They just - they just said his name on the radio!” she says, having been the only one vaguely listening to it; she turns the volume up, “listen, listen, listen!” she insist.

“Now, if you were listening to the restaurant review earlier in the broadcast you may have heard me mention the Five Alarm Grill.” George says, “well, Thomas Jefferson, the owner and chef at the Five Alarm Grill, is here in the studio with us this evening, and he has something rather interesting to say. Good evening, Thomas.”

James stares at the radio very intently as Thomas’ voice actually begins to come from the speakers, “Good evening,” he says, “now here’s the thing, George, I have to tell you the irony of what happened. You came to our street to try James Madison’s cooking, but that’s exactly what you did, you just did it at the Five Alarm, at my restaurant instead. You see, my daughter had been hurt, and I had to step out, and James came in at the last minute so that we didn’t have to close down for the night.”

James sits up in his desk chair as George interjects, “So allow me to get this straight, Chef Madison left his restaurant to run the Five Alarm Grill in your time of crisis?” he asks.

“That’s right.” Thomas says.

“So he cooked the delicious beef stew I tasted?” George asks.

“He did,” Thomas says, “and if you review the  _ Chez Varenne _ , you will try his beef  bourguignon, which is a fancier, even better version of that stew. It’s one of the many amazing things that James has on his menu. So what do you say, George? Dinner at  _ Chez Varenne  _ next week?”

“Well, how could I refuse?” George asks, “I must tell you, Thomas, I’ve reviewed a lot of restaurants in my time and I don’t think I’ve ever come across anything quite like this before.”

“Well, he’s - he’s my neighbor.” Thomas says, and James can hear the smile in his voice, “I’m just being neighborly.”

…

When Thomas gets back to the Five Alarm Grill, the dining room is mostly cleaned up except for one chair that hasn’t been put away, because James is sitting there waiting for him.

“James, hi.” Thomas says when he comes in.

“Hi.” James says, his voice wavering as he’s obviously been crying again.

Thomas looks around the dark dining room, “Where is everybody?”

“They went home.” James says, “Lafayette took Patsy to Aaron’s house? I didn’t know who that was but Patsy said they were friends.”

“Yeah.” Thomas says, then looks at him sadly, “listen, I’m really sorry - ”

“Don’t be,” James says, standing up quickly, “Don’t apologize. I’m the one who should apologize.” he pauses, looking up at him, “you’re a good man, Thomas Jefferson.”

Thomas smiles softly, “Wow?” he says, “thank you?”

“And the thing that you said on the radio,” James continues, “about us being neighborly.” he pauses and looks down, shaking his head, “I’m sorry I - I can’t do that.” he looks back up at Thomas, “it just wouldn’t be enough.” he pauses again, clearly very hesitant, and then he says, “because I think I’m falling in love with you.”

Thomas smiles and reaches out to him, placing a hand on his waist, “Well, I’m clearly in love with you.” he says, which makes James far more flustered than he was prepared to be, “otherwise why would I have gone on the radio and made such a fool of myself.”

James still isn’t looking at him, his face burning hot, so Thomas uses his free hand to tilt his chin up, until he’s looking at him, “Can I kiss you?” he asks, smiling, and James somehow blushes even harder.

“Yes, please.” he says, very quietly, and Thomas leans forward and kisses him sweetly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> my favorite thing about this chapter is dolley coming for james' LIFE and roasting him over and over again because he can't get his shit together 
> 
> um that's the end. goodbye geywfihuweng


End file.
